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Mace makes history

By Rob McCurdy Gannett Ohio
7:30 p.m. EDT July 28, 2014

Clear Fork graduate Jessica Mace practices changing a tire before this year’s Indianapolis 500. Mace was the first woman to work over the wall at the 500 changing tires for former race winner Jacques Villeneuve.
(Photo:
Photo courtesy of IndyCar
)

LEXINGTON – Jessica Mace continues to do what no woman has done before.

A year ago, the Clear Fork grad became the first female to work on the over-the-wall pit crew in the Grand-Am Continental Sports Car Challenge.

This year, she became the first woman to change tires during the Indianapolis 500.

"It was quite the experience," Mace said.

Quite the experience indeed.

It's tough making history in front of a quarter-million people with millions more watching around the globe on TV. Thanks goodness for a laser focus.

"It's hard to do because you find yourself on the grid looking around and you can't believe all the people that are here now," she said. "Doing it before in Grand-Am was enough to keep my head straight. You have a job to do and that's the main goal. You're not there to spectate. Let's have fun, but you've got something you have to do to get that car to the front."

Adding to the pressure was the fact that she was a member of the crew for former Indy 500 winner and Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve. His return to the Verizon IndyCar Series after almost 20 years was high profile for sure.

"He was great to work with," Mace said. "He showed up ready to go and did his thing and away he went."

Mace landed at Indy-based Schmidt Peterson Motorsports nearly by accident. Losing her job in the offseason after helping Burton Racing to the Street Tuner championship in their BMW 128i, she happened to be in Florida when she heard an Indy Lights team needed help during a test at Sebring.

"I met them there and did the test and they offered me a job," she said.

Mace works primarily with the four-car Indy Lights program for SPM with Curb-Agajanian. Jack Harvey is third in the points chase with Luiz Razia sixth, Juan Pablo Garcia seventh and Juan Piedrahita eighth.

"We're doing well. We have a couple of drivers running for the championship. The cars have been running good, and the drivers are good, and we haven't had any major hiccups thankfully," she said.

She is a mechanic who is responsible for gear changes and uprights and helps out on engine swaps. There are no pit stops for tire changes in the Lights program.

Instead, that came in May when Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, who fields cars for Simon Pagenaud and rookie Mikhail Aleshin full-time, added a third car for the Indy 500 for Villeneuve. That gave her the opportunity to make history.

"Ain't that great," her grandpa Jack Baumgardner said, a former longtime club racer of national reputation in his distinctive Austin Mini Coopers. "It's so neat."

Baumgardner said his granddaughter practiced relentlessly for her opportunity.

"They had a hub set up in the shop. She'd go in early and change tires and change tires and change tires," he said.

May was a long month filled with long days and short nights as they prepared the Lights cars for the duel races on the new infield road course as well as the Freedom 100 held on the famed oval. Simultaneously the team had to get Villeneuve's car ready for practice, qualifying and racing trim.

In the end, it was all worth it. Villeneuve started 27th, but finished a respectable 14th on the lead lap after eight pit stops.

"It's hard to describe. You have to be there and be a part of it," Mace said. "It was hard to let myself completely enjoy it because I had a job to do, and I needed to focus and not have any issues."

Mace returns home this weekend to be a part of the Indy Lights races at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

"I'm very excited to be back. It will be odd working and no spectating with the family like years before, but it's nice to be working at the same time," she said.